Photographer Martin Klimas Paints Like Pollock With Sound

How do you paint with sound? It’s a good question and the answer comes from German photographer Martin Klimas. He starts by putting different colored paint on top of a speaker over some translucent material, then cranks up the volume. The vibrations of the speaker shoot the paint into the air creating beautiful patterns and sculptural forms, and Klimas snaps them with his camera while in flight.

Each image becomes an abstract portrait of whatever song he plays—from Miles Davis to Kraftwerk. The New York Times says he spent six months and about 1,000 shots to get the required results and also that his influences were abstract art and Hans Jenny, a scientist versed in cymatics, the study of waves and vibrations.

We’re used to seeing audiovisual collaborations, like those explored by Quayola and Jamie XX, but they’re usually animated using computer software, whereas this is a much more analogue affair.